Albums like Kanye’s The Life Of Pablo — which hasn’t had a physical release yet — would also now be eligible.

This seems a positive news to major key players in the industry as the world seem to be moving towards streaming or online release of their materials more and more with controversial rap artiste Kanye West sale of ‘Life of Pablo‘ officially online at a cost of $20 per album download.

The announcement comes a month after a petition to allow free music such as mixtapes online be eligible for Grammy consideration was made.

Grammys also announced changes like voting limits and amended its Best New Artist guideline.

In the statement available on it’s website, it reads:

The Recording Academy has completed its annual Awards review and established new amendments and key dates guiding the 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards process.

Among other changes, the updates allow previously ineligible streaming-only works to be considered and limit the number of categories in which members may vote.

The new guidelines go into effect immediately in the current-year Awards cycle.

“The GRAMMYs aren’t just peer-awarded, they’re peer-driven,” said Bill Freimuth, Senior Vice President of Awards for The Recording Academy.

“Throughout the year, members of the music community come to us asking to make changes to the Awards process, and we work with them to figure out how those changes might work.

I’m proud of this year’s changes because they’re a testament to the artists, producers and writers — the people who rolled up their sleeves to shape the proposals and, in turn, the future of the GRAMMYs.

It’s exactly what they should be doing. It’s their award.”

To encourage members to vote only in those categories in which they are most knowledgeable, passionate and qualified, the number of categories in which Academy members may vote has decreased from 20 to 15, plus the four General Field categories (Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist).

Additional changes include amending the Best New Artist eligibility guidelines; branching the Best Blues Album category into two distinct categories: Best Traditional Blues Album and Best Contemporary Blues Album; redefining and changing the name of the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category to Best Rap/Sung Performance; amending the number and type of music creators recognized in the categories of Best Choral Performance and Best Jazz Vocal Album; and procedural updates to the process of populating nominations committees.

For additional information regarding the changes approved by The Academy’s Trustees, visit GRAMMY.org.

The 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place live on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, at Staples Center in Los Angeles from 8–11:30 p.m. ET/PT.

Visit grammy101.com for a complete timeline of awards eligibility and voting dates.

Author: Dare Gbadebo is the publisher with the trademark darebaba.net is a versatile writer who had his media training based on photography at PEFTI film institute and has written for many top media houses in Nigeria. Stay tuned for your favorite celebrity news political updates and paparazzi. Darebaba on social media Facebook | Instagram | Google+